JavaLand 2023: Education and Rollercoasters

Every year, park Phantasialand in Brühl, Germany, opens its doors to the JavaLand conference, uniting Java technology leaders, engineers, architects, and fans of this programming language.

In March, three members of the Avenga Java team attended the JavaLand 2023 and shared their experiences with us. So, let’s commence our journey to the conference insights from the point where all good things start – from the very beginning.

What is JavaLand?

JavaLand is one of the biggest Java conferences in Europe. During several days here, tech enthusiasts and Java experts learn and share tons of information about the latest trends, innovations in development, use cases, and all kinds of Java topics.

The conference has an exceptional location based in Phantasialand – an amusement park near Cologne, which adds an authentic atmosphere to the event and makes it a blend of education and entertainment. After a productive day, everyone can enjoy rollercoasters and other attractions, great food, and in-person networking with thousands of Java professionals.

Figure 1. Picture gallery JavaLand 2023

The Topics and Speakers

Through lectures, workshops, and panel discussions, speakers and guests discussed the latest software industry trends. Avenga’s Engineers have chosen their list of noteworthy talks:

The Zen of Programming

by Sander Hoogendoorn

The lecture is inspired by the Zen philosophy and aims to help developers achieve a unique state of “programming Zen.” Sander talked about the tendency to overdo in modern software development and provided an excellent example of when one issue was covered by 32 libraries instead of one. The main idea here is to reduce code complexity, make it easier to support, and think about people who will work with the codebase after you. “The Zen of Programming” is a thought-provoking and insightful lecture encouraging developers to approach their work with a clear, focused, and mindful mindset to achieve better results and greater job satisfaction.

Github Copilot vs. Amazon CodeWhisperer for Java Developers

by Vadym Kazulkin and Dennis Kazulkin

GitHub Copilot and Amazon CodeGuru Reviewer are tools powered by machine learning that help improve developer productivity by generating code recommendations based on engineers’ comments in natural language and their code. This lecture gave insight into how AI and machine learning algorithms could help engineers analyze code and suggest relevant code snippets or functions for completing a particular task.

The lecture encouraged a discussion that in the next few years, Trainee Engineers will start not from technology development positions but mainly will act as ChatGPT users. Of course, it doesn’t mean skipping deep diving into technologies, as AI can’t fully replace engineers.

Maven Puzzlers

by Andres Almiray and Ixchel Ruiz

Definitely the most interactive speech of JavaLand 2023, where speakers worked in synergy and ideally complemented one another. The lecture covered some of the key concepts related to Maven, including dependency management, plugin configuration, build lifecycle, and release management. It presented a series of “puzzles,” or common challenges engineers may encounter when using Maven.

How to Sabotage Your Software Development with Agile? – 10 Pro Tips for Success

by Marlene Roth and Tobias Mohr

Nowadays, Agile practice undergoes various modifications, and development teams shifted their focus from the original Manifesto for Agile Software Development to personal preferences. Marlene and Tobias gathered all the bad practices to show how we get stuck in the differentiation of Agile approaches. By revealing their 10 anti-tips, the speakers say: “It’s time to revert to the basic principles that uncover the real potential of Agile software development.”

Leaving a Legacy: a Guide to Being Kind to Those Who Come After

by Tom Cools and Elien Callens

This lecture navigates us towards the point where we should leave writing legacy at the door and start thinking about new specialists on the project, which is much more important. Every engineer knows how to write code and build architecture but sometimes forgets to keep the readability and simplicity of the codebase to make newcomers’ onboarding and meeting with your code smooth. Focusing on this will help new team members bring benefits faster and increase productivity. This lecture is worth attending for any Software Engineer.

When an Immutable Object Meets a Modifiable Force

by Reinier Zwitserloot, Roel Spilker

An insightful lecture about immutability, tendencies in Java development, and what features have already been built in Lombok to help engineers create immutable data structures in an ever-changing world. Speakers showed insights into how the creation and realization of immutable objects will look in the future. This gripping speech motivates to try the 21st version of Java language, which will be released soon.

Final Thoughts

This conference was a unique and inspiring experience, and we look forward to visiting JavaLand 2024 next year!